Why I endorse Paul Ryan against his bigoted primary opponent

Having spent an important part of my career working for Democratic leaders in Congress, but being a patriotic American fed up with the poisons that pollute American politics, I am today endorsing House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) in his Republican primary against Paul Nehlen next Tuesday.

{mosads}I do not agree with Ryan about many issues beyond our shared devotion to the Green Bay Packers. But Nehlen stands for the kind of politics that has no place in America, Congress or either party.

Recently, Nehlen called for a national debate about whether America should forcibly deport every Muslim American from the United States because he claims (wrongly) that they may hold Sharia law above the U.S. Constitution and falsely charges (in one of the most bigoted defamations of our times) that Muslims are taught by their faith to lie.

Nehlen promotes one of the most unconstitutional ideas in American political history: the notion of deporting an entire class of Americans solely because of their faith. Nehlen promotes this vile and sinister idea by misrepresenting their faith either by sheer ignorance — if he believes what he says in his defamation of Muslims — or outright lying — if he does not but says it, thinking it gives him political advantage.

This kind of discourse has no place in American politics. This kind of candidate has no place in the House of Representatives. This kind of politics is one more example of the degeneration of our political discourse that began long before GOP nominee Donald Trump began his campaign for the presidency, but has been made dramatically worse by the endless string of vindictive insults and delusional misstatements that may well lead Trump to an epic landslide defeat in November.

No matter how vehemently I disagree with Ryan on many issues, he is a legitimate conservative, skilled legislator and solid family man who has risen to the top of the GOP leadership in Congress because of the respect he has generated from his colleagues in Congress who know him best.

Make no mistake: My endorsement of Ryan is limited to the GOP primary next Tuesday. I will favor his longshot Democratic opponent in the general election and support Democratic hopes to regain control of the House and Senate in November.

Regarding the GOP primary in Wisconsin next Tuesday, though, endorsing Ryan over Nehlen is not a close call. There may well be a temptation among some Democrats, who can cross over and vote in the GOP primary under Wisconsin law, to support Nehlen to embarrass national Republicans. I reject this, and would counsel the exact opposite.

No campaign that seeks to exploit bigotry and fear, as Nehlen does by raising the obviously unconstitutional and neo-Hitlerian notion of deporting all American Muslims because of their faith, should ever succeed in America. If such a campaign were to succeed, it would be a dark moment in our history and a cancer on American democracy.

Retired Gen. and former CIA Director David Petraeus has warned that a ban on Muslim immigrants would be a disaster for our security and would help our terrorist enemies. To even debate deporting all Muslims would a crime against all patriotic American Muslims, including those who serve our country bravely in uniform, and a dagger in the heart of Muslims around the world who stand with us to defeat and destroy the terrorist menace.

It is bizarre that someone like me, who worked for Democratic leaders in Congress, is endorsing the primary campaign of Ryan, while the Republican nominee, who disqualifies himself for the presidency by injecting poisons into our politics that pose a grave danger to the future of the GOP, has resisted endorsing Ryan and offered praise for Nehlen despite his heinous ideas.

America must reject Trump decisively in November, and I hope voters in the Wisconsin GOP primary next Tuesday stand with Ryan.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Chief Deputy Majority Whip Bill Alexander (D-Ark.). He holds an LL.M. degree in international financial law from the London School of Economics. Contact him at brentbbi@webtv.net.

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